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Nordic spin-out wins funding for SiC wafers

Armed with €20 million from venture funds and the Swedish government, Norstel will develop and manufacture SiC wafers for both high-voltage and high-frequency electronic components.

Norstel AB, a spin-out from Finland-based silicon wafer supplier Okmetic Oyj, has won over €20 million ($26.5 million) in venture and government funding to develop and manufacture SiC wafers.

Based in Linköping, Sweden, Norstel's business is based on its proprietary high-temperature (HT) CVD technology, which was developed over 10 years through Linköping University, Okmetic and the Swedish industrial giant ABB.

Nordic technology investor companies Creandum, Eqvitec Partners and Northzone Ventures have added their financial muscle to Norstel, which will receive €6 million of its funding from the Swedish government during the next three years.

Norstel will target both high-voltage and high-frequency applications of SiC devices with its wafers.

Product development and manufacturing will be located in Norrköping, Sweden, with manufacturing expected to begin during 2006.

Initially Norstel will employ about 50 people in manufacturing and advanced product development.

Applications involving conversion, transmission and management of electric power are prime candidates for SiC chips, which are expected to reduce transmission loss and power consumption in domestic appliances and industrial systems.

Similar applications to improve the power performance of solar power modules and hybrid cars are also expected in the future.

And Norstel has already lined up what it describes as a major contract to deliver SiC wafers for high-frequency transistors to be used in a new military radar system. The contract is with the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration.

According to Norstel CEO Asko Vehanen, the spin-out company was the only European source of SiC high-frequency wafers able to meet stringent quality demands.

Additional business for Norstel will come from the jewelry sector, with the US company Charles and Colvard "“ a near neighbor of SiC specialist Cree in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina "“ placing a $4 million, three-year order with Norstel for material to be used in its moissanite jewels.

Cree is currently Charles and Covard's raw material supplier, and Norstel will provide a second source of high-quality SiC.

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